Let’s Talk About What All Those Men Talking About Women Said Last Night

The most recent Republican presidential candidate debate on CNN was two things: very long and full of d*cks.

For three hours, 10 men and one woman fielded questions about national security, reproductive health care, taxes, and of course, dolla dolla bills, y'all—all in the hopes of stumping each other (or mostly Donald Trump) and becoming the presidential front-runner for the Republican party. Because we're WomensHealthMag.com (emphasis on women), we were particularly interested in what the candidates had to say about topics like Planned Parenthood, the Affordable Care Act, and equal pay. We also wanted to see if Carly Fiorina, the only female candidate, would knock it out of the park (she did—you can always count on a woman to come prepared).

1. Carly, Carly, Carly!
One thing we noticed was that, while all of the male candidates and Jake Tapper, the moderator, called each other by their titles and last names (Mr. Trump, Senator Cruz, Governor Christie), they were on a first-name basis with Ms. Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and chair of the nonprofit Good360. Was this a little covert sexism, or is "Ms. Fiorina" too difficult for them to pronounce? Hrmm...

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2. Donald Trump Can't Apologize for Being Sexist Without Being Sexist
Recently, Trump had some words about Fiorina's looks, telling Rolling Stone, "Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that?" When asked about these remarks at last night's debate, Trump back-tracked and tried to make nice by saying, "She's got a beautiful face, and I think she's a beautiful woman." ...And women all over America collectively rolled their eyes.

3. Zero of the Candidates Stand With Planned Parenthood
We hoped potential future leaders of the United States could kind of, you know, stick to the facts. But here's where Fiorina really dipped—she tried explaining what happened in the alleged videos but described scenes that weren't actually in them at all. The videos in question (which the White House says seem to be of questionable authenticity) feature a Planned Parenthood employee discussing the sale of fetal tissue. But during the debate, Fiorina described the types of graphic anti-choice videos you might see on a pro-life website (you can watch the clip below for a full description). This is sort of like if you thought they played Quidditch in The Hunger Games. It's just not what happened.

4. They Talked About Giving Women Money, But Not Like, Actually Giving Women Money
The treasury recently announced that it will be putting a woman's face on a $10 bill, so moderators asked the candidates which lucky lady it should be. Women, step on down! Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who no doubt loves a tough broad and would never shush a woman, picked the badass suffraget Susan B. Anthony. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who maybe didn't listen to the question, wants to put Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks on the $20 bill and keep Alexander Hamilton on the $10. Trump also said Rosa Parks, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson said his mom, and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush said Margaret Thatcher—who is British...

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It was Fiorina who responded with the realest answer, which is that this whole "putting women on money" thing is kind of bullsh*t. “We shouldn’t change the $10 dollar bill or the $20 dollar bill," she said. "I think, honestly, it’s a gesture. I don’t think it helps to change our history. What I would think is that we ought to recognize that women are not a special interest group. Women are the majority of this nation, we are half the potential of this nation, and this nation will be better off when every woman has the opportunity to live the life she chooses.”

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5. Women's Issues Were Largely Ignored
As Fiorina pointed out, women are not a special-interest group—the policies that affect us impact families, health-care costs, the entire economy, and, oh, future generations. Why, then, were so many of these important issues not discussed? Equal pay, paid leave, child care, and reproductive health carewere hardly mentioned. And the attacks on Planned Parenthood were ubiquitous throughout the debate, with no mention of how preventative health care would otherwise be provided to the 2.5 millon women who depend on the nonprofit for cancer screenings and annual exams every year.

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Proving just how out of touch he is with women, Trump also told (invented?) a story about a woman who was nine months pregnant and walked into the United States from another country to give birth (hahaha). “People just pour into the country," he said. "[Americans are] disgusted when a woman who’s nine months pregnant walks into the country and has a baby and you have to take care of that baby for the next 85 years.”

To that we say—wait, Americans are supposed to be taken care of for 85 years? Then why is it so hard even for two-parent families to get ahead?

Caitlin AbberCaitlin Abber is a journalist, producer, and multimedia storyteller with work published at InStyle, Bustle, PRI, Women’s Health, and MTV.

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